Discord servers are organized into topic-based channels where you can collaborate, share, and just talk about your day without clogging up a group chat. Where hanging out is easy. Grab a seat in a voice channel when you're free. Friends in your server can see you're around.
- Head on over to discord.gg/discord-testers! Legendary Badges Partnered Server Owner Badge. Designed for active and engaged communities, the Partner Program distinguishes the best servers out there. This badge is given to owners of thriving communities and creators that show an authentic enthusiasm for Discord.
- Discord Testers is an official server owned by discord staff. This server is responsible for finding and reporting Discord bugs. This server is also linked to different trello boards for bugs.
Discord is well-known for its VoIP services. People love Discord for how easy it is to create and manage entire communities online.
But not only that. Unlike some other companies, Discord cares about its users and listens to them. The people over at Discord are always trying to make the experience more seamless, and they give the users what they want.
With that, they get hundreds, if not thousands of suggestions every day. Before Discord implements a new feature, they test it in Discord Canaryand Discord PTB (Public Test Build).
What is Discord Canary?
Discord Canary is the alpha testing client for Discord. What that means is Discord Canary gets new features and bug fixes first.
Because it's an alpha testing program, it is less stable than Discord's other clients.
The primary purpose of Discord Canary is to get input from users about new features before they roll them out to the stable version. This helps Discord find bugs, tweak features, and overall provide a better experience to their stable Discord client.
If you use Discord Canary (or any other Discord client) and find a bug, you can easily report it on Discord's Test Server.
Discord also has a Beta testing client, called Discord PTB (Public Test Build). Discord PTB is more stable than Canary, but it gets features and bug fixes after Canary.
Imagine Discord PTB as the bridge between Discord Canary and Discord Stable.
How is Discord Canary Different from Discord Stable?
If you're reading this you might be thinking, 'wow, so Discord Canary must have all kinds of cool features that Discord stable doesn't!' Well, it isn't that simple.
At the time of this article, there isn't much difference (if any at all) in both their feature set.
I went to the Discord Tester's Server to ask around if there were any differences between Discord and Discord Canary. But right now, there aren't any noteworthy differences.
I would imagine most of the differences are at the back-end. Small bug fixes and whatnot.
The only real difference you'll likely notice right now is the color of the icon. Instead of the normal blurple, Discord Canary uses an orange color. This is probably because of the color of the canary bird.
But, keep in mind, when Discord brings any new features, the first place they'll show up is in Discord Canary. So, if you want early access to new Discord features, Canary is your friend.
However, I would recommend you keep both the Stable & Canary clients, just in case Canary starts acting up (I've heard it acts up a lot). You could simply stop Discord Stable from launching at boot and use the Canary version as your default.
To stop Discord stable from opening up on boot, go to User Settings > App Settings > Windows Settings, and then disable both Open Discord.
Platforms Supported by Discord Canary
Discord Canary is available for:
- macOS
- Windows
- Linux
You can also access Discord Canary from your browser, which is extremely convenient. If you don't have Discord Canary you can simply go to the official website to see if there are any new features.
It is also available for mobile phone users. Although it isn't called that. On mobile phones, it is just referred to as the Discord Alpha program.
How to Install Discord Canary on PC?
To get Discord Canary on a PC, first, download the setup for your operating system.
- Windows(7 and above)
Once you download the setup file, simply run it. Discord Canary installs a few updates, and then you'll be greeted with a familiar log-in screen.
Enter your Email & Password, and then you'll be good to go.
Discord Testers
How to Install Discord Canary on Android / iOS?
iOS only has one early access app, which you can access through test flight. The signing up process is pretty simple. Unfortunately, at the time of this article, the Beta app for Discord on iOS is full.
Discord Testers Discord
For Android users, you can simply go to Discord on the Google play store, and sign up on the Beta there.
If you want to go one step further and join the alpha program. You can sign up by filling this form.
Note: Filling out the form does not guarantee access to the Alpha Program.
For more information on the alpha and beta programs for Discord on mobile, you can go to the Discord Testers' server and read the #FAQs text channel.
Conclusion
You can use Discord Canary to get an early look at all the goodies Discord has to offer. Although it is a bit buggy, it has gotten a lot better. So, using it as your main Discord Client is not unthinkable.
If you have any questions or if you are having problems downloading Discord Canary, you can either comment below or go to the Discord Testers server and ask for help from a mod.
